When Wayne was a Whippersnapper: William Doyle

By PAUL LOCHERStaff Writer Published: June 13, 2012 4:00 AM

RITTMAN -- Not too many pioneers left their stamp on two towns in Wayne County. One that did was William Doyle, credited with the founding of both Rittman and Doylestown.

Doyle seemed to be something of a standout on the pioneer landscape of the county, with early writers invariably drawn to comment on his blazing red hair and his uncommon height. Of Scotch-Irish extraction, Doyle added an "e" to his name, which had not been there in previous generations. However, the 1820 census records him as William Doil. He was born in Pennsylvania and it is likely he was part of the same family that founded Doylestown, Pa.

He married Mariah Stauffer in Frederick, Md., on Sept. 16, 1806, and their first child, Daniel Boone Doyle, was born in 1807 in Maryland.

Doyle immigrated with his family to Milton Township, Wayne County, in 1814, applying for the first land patent in the northern half of the township on July 23, 1814, and purchasing the western half of section 11 near where Rittman High School stands.

It is recorded that when Doyle arrived on his land, he found a quarter-breed Indian named Isaac DeCoursey squatting there with his wife and two children. DeCoursey made his living by hunting and trapping, and went wherever he could find the most game.

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He and Doyle, however, must have hit it off well, because shortly after the latter's arrival DeCoursey purchased the southwest quarter of section 3, adjoining Doyle's land.

DeCoursey was himself an interesting frontier character who moved around a great deal. He was born in Sussex County, N.J., in 1793, the son of Peter and Madalena VanAken DeCoursey. That same year his family moved to Smithfield in Northampton County, Pa. In 1797 they moved to Elizabeth in Allegheny County, Pa., and two years later moved to Washington County, Pa.

The family came to Ohio in 1802, settling at Newton Falls in Trumbull County. DeCoursey remained there 10 years until moving to what is today Rittman in Wayne County until 1812 when he became a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1815 DeCoursey moved to Medina County and then to Shawnee in Allen County, Ohio, in 1834.

Two years later DeCoursey continued his westward migration, moving to Watertown in Jefferson County, Wis., where he is credited as being one of the founding fathers. In 1851 he moved on, this time to Leon in Monroe County, Wis., where he also played a founding role. DeCoursey's final stop was in Faribault, Rice County, Wis., where he died in 1869.

But now I have substantially digressed from William Doyle and must get back to him.